1. What do you know about Hanukkah? Journal QUICK-WRITE

2. Hanukkah The Festival of Lights

3. When is Hanukkah? Hanukkah begins at the 25th day of Kislev, the third month of the Jewish calendar. This year Hanukkah began at sundown on the evening of December 1, 2010. (So when does it end?)

4. The Menorah On each night of Hanukkah, the menorah is lit. The menorah symbolizes the burning light in the temple, as well as marking the eight days of the Hanukkah festival.

5. There Are Many Different Spellings of Hanukkah ChanukaChanuka Chanukah Chanukkah Channukah Hanukah Hannukah Hanukkah Hanuka Hanukka Hanaka Haneka Hanika Khanukkah

6. The Menorah The Menorah or candle holder is a really important part of the tradition of Hanukkah. It is why we call the holiday "the festival of light.” We light the menorah from the left side to the right side. We place the candles in the menorah from the right to the left. When we light the menorah we say the blessings for the candles.blessings There are many different styles of menorot (plural for menorah). In most cases the Shamash (the helper candle) is in the middle or to the left side. Some are made for burning oil and some for candles. How is this candle lighting different than the Kwanzaa candles? ?

7. Latkes Many traditional Hanukkah foods are cooked in oil, in remembrance of the oil that burned in the temple. Latkes, or potato pancakes are a favorite food at Hanukkah.

8. Dreidel The dreidel is associated with Hanukkah. It is a four-sided spinning top. Each side is engraved with a different Hebrew letter: The letters mean Nes Gadol Haya Sham—"A great miracle happened there"

9. The Dreidel The four sides of the dreidel, from right: nun, gimmel, hey, and shin

10. "Oh Dreidel, dreidel, dreidel, I made it out of clay. And when its dry and ready, Oh dreidel I shall play." Children's Hanukkah Song The dreidel is a four-sided spinning top with a different Hebrew letter on each side. The word for dreidel in Hebrew S'veevon. Dreidel is a Yiddish word taken from the German word drehen (which means to turn). Dreidels can be made of any materials.

11. And now… We’re going to take a look at a video posted on the History Channel’s website. Click here: http://www.history.com/videos/history-of-hanukkah#history-of-hanukkah

12. Here’s one more… Here’s some info about Hanukkah from the perspective of a rabbi (a Jewish priest): http://www.history.com/videos/history-of-hanukkah#ask-a-rabbi-hanukkah

13. Happy

14. Shalom! (Hebrew for “peace”)